Season 6 Episode 3: And Again (3 of 11)
by GrayCharacter16
Summary: King Olaf and his daughter visit Camelot once again, and to everybody's consternation, Princess Vivian is still under the enchantment that made her fall in love with Arthur. Queen Guinevere is none to happy about that, but it's toughest of all for Merlin, because as usual, he's the one who has keep this unfortunate situation from sparking a war...
1. Chapter 1

This is one episode in the continuous storyline of my Merlin season 6, so **you have to read the other episodes before this one**. I know it seems like a lot but I promise it's not that bad. Start with my alternate S5E13 ending, then it'll link you to my season 6 episode 1. Here's the link to 5:13 alternate:

www,fanfiction,net/s/10568694/1/The-Diamond-of-the-Day-Part-2-Alternate-ending

replace the commas with periods to make it work. :)

**To my frequent flyers,** you may note that this is a revised version of part one of this episode. I've never reposted a first chapter before, so we'll see how well it works. I may have to mess around with it for a whole, so please be patient with me. :)

**PLEASE DON'T READ THIS UNTIL YOU'VE READ THE EPISODES I WROTE TO PRECEDE IT. Thanks!**

* * *

Kay was having an unusual day.

He couldn't decide whether it was a bad day or a good day; it felt like a good day, but it had put him in a bad mood. A lot of great things were going on today. Merlin had visited him that morning and presented him with a professionally-made quarterstaff he'd found in the armory, and Katera was at the stable helping him feed the horses because the queen had let her off work early.

Given those facts, one would expect him to be having a good day, but a lot of unfortunate things had occurred, as well. On the way to work he had slipped in a heap of manure some heifer had left in the street, so one of the boots he'd bought hardly a month ago, which he'd been hoping would last him a couple of years, was already in bad condition. One of the feed bins in the royal wing of the stable had been empty, so he'd had to run down to the marketplace, but the treasury worker he was supposed to be able to ask for money for stable needs had given him a hard time about it. Then that extra trip had put him behind and he'd been late for his lunch break. The list went on; it really hadn't been a good day.

Now that Terra was here, he was trying to put all that behind him and get in a good mood, but it wasn't working because a group of knights were loitering by their horses' stalls; one of them – Kay was pretty sure he'd heard King Arthur refer to him as Sir Gwaine – was obviously drunk, and he kept making eyes at Terra.

Kay had nothing against that group of knights; they were Arthur's inner circle of friends, he knew, and enviably good swordsmen. They usually seemed like a decent crowd, too, and he'd gotten to know Sir Mordred in person on the journey back to Camelot after Arthur and Mordred had rescued Kay, Terra and Merlin from the slavers. He'd spoken with Sir Leon a few times regarding stabling arrangements, since Leon was the Captain of the Guard. Even Gwaine had exchanged friendly words with him in passing once or twice. But right now the bearded knight was managing to get on all Kay's most sensitive nerves, and the stablehand was itching to put him in his place.

The knights were sharing a dish of cherries fresh from the orchard; every now and then one of them would toss a cherry in the air and one of the others would take a swing at it with his sword. Their accuracy was impressive; three times out of four they at least tipped the cherry, if not split neatly through it. Gwaine's tipsy grin every time he sent two cherry halves spinning apart in midair was serving to aggravate Kay even more.

They'd been at it for a few minutes when Kay finished mucking the stalls and headed down the aisle with a wheelbarrow full of manure to dispose of. Courtesy of Gwaine, a fragment of cherry landed in his wheelbarrow as he passed the knights; he scowled, muttering, "At least you can do _something_ with a sword, pretty boy."

"Why thank you." Gwaine flashed an oversized smile.

"My pleasure." Kay returned the smile icily. "Even you're good for something, I guess, even if it's only looking pretty."

"There are worse things to be good for." Gwaine's smile was unfazed. "For instance, hauling dung."

"Gwaine," Mordred murmured, but the other knights made no move to intercede as the tension built. They all knew Kay was out of his place; a stablehand who insulted a knight deserved to be disciplined one way or another.

Kay felt both his feet on firm ground, though; this being Camelot, he knew he wasn't in danger of being executed, jailed, or even fired. The dung jab had stung him; he came back with a cold smirk, commenting, "At least I can work like an actual man. Pretty boys like you haven't ever even gotten your hands dirty."

Gwaine's smile faded into a deep scowl. "Don't pretend you know anything about me."

"Please." Kay snorted. "I know your type. Your father was a knight and he never did a day of real hard labor in his life, and he raised you just like him."

Mordred cleared his throat loudly, but the damage was done. That had been a barb in the wrong place for Gwaine, who was already off from his usual laidback temperament thanks to the amount of mead he'd had. He took a step toward Kay, growling, "If you mention my father one more time, I'll have satisfaction from you – stableboy or not. Got that, one-eye?"

References to his eyepatch usually didn't bother Kay, but that one did by virtue of the person it was coming from. Kay stepped closer; now the two of them were nose to nose, glowering into each other's eyes from inches away as he questioned with a hard smile, "Are you challenging me to a duel, pretty boy?"

"I'm not going to duel a servant." Gwaine snorted. "What are you going to do, throw dung at me?"

"Maybe." Kay grinned. "I bet your daddy bought you that sword, though. It would be a shame to get manure all over it."

Gwaine stepped back, his face set; clearly he was resolved not to let the stablehand's taunts get under his skin.

Just then Terra arrived on the scene, frowning. "Is everything alright over here?"

Gwaine treated her to his best dazzling smile. "Everything's fine. You just stand there and look beautiful, sweetheart."

That was exactly the wrong move to make, unless he was trying to escalate Kay's temper. Gwaine's smile darkened when Kay snapped, "You probably can't do anything with that sword except chop up cherries."

"I wouldn't bet on that if I were you." Gwaine gritted.

"Yeah? What are you, daddy's little swordsman?" Kay put the finishing touch on his efforts to infuriate the knight. "Prove it, then. Make daddy proud!"

"Kay . . ." Terra began.

Gwaine glanced appealingly at Leon. "Give him your sword."

"What, you're going to duel Arthur's servant?" The Captain of the Guard demanded.

"Arthur's servant has a name." Terra informed him.

Leon raised an eyebrow at her. "You and your brother are a touchy pair, aren't you?"

Gwaine tipped his head as if considering the question that had been put to him, then answered brusquely, "Yes, I'm going to duel Arthur's servant."

"He's got it coming," Percival pointed out. "Technically he could go in the stocks for this, so Gwaine's letting him off easy."

"I'm not going to injure him." Gwaine rolled his eyes. "I'll disarm him, alright?"

Leon didn't put up much of an argument; with a sigh, he drew his sword and presented it to Kay.

The redheaded stablehand lifted his palms in front of him. "That's not my style." He jerked his head over his shoulder to where he had left the quarterstaff Merlin had given him leaning against the wall. "Mine's back there. Do you mind?"

"Make it quick." Gwaine's tone clearly stated that he thought Kay was making excuses to avoid the duel. His eyebrows rose when the stablehand returned a moment later with his quarterstaff. "You're going to fight me with a broomstick?"

"It's a quarterstaff." Kay shrugged. "Like I said, we're all good at something."

"Have it your way." Gwaine mirrored the shrug, then added with a grin, "May the best man win."

"I will." Kay assured him coldly.

Gwaine shot an indignant look at Katera as she and the other knights backed away to give the combatants space. "He just stole my line!"

Without warning, the quarterstaff flicked up, ramming into Gwaine's stomach. The knight doubled over, wheezing; Kay spun the staff and brought it cracking down across the back of his opponent's neck. He drew back, watching Gwaine keenly.

The knight sprang into action suddenly; startled by the ferocity of the attack, Kay fell back, parrying a shower of blows with his staff. It took him a second to recover – then he got in an extra blow between blocks, slamming the staff into the knight's ribcage. Gwaine recoiled with a grunt, but as Kay brought his staff around for another blow the knight turned it aside with his sword and went for a stab at the younger man's chest.

Kay leaped back, sweeping the broomstick across and hitting the back of Gwaine's sword hand and arm. He followed up swiftly, stabbing the end of the staff at the side of the knight's knee. Given full power, a blow like that could knock bones out of alignment or break the leg, but Kay was wiser than to seriously injure the knight; as it was, the knee merely buckled.

Gwaine shouted in angry pain and moved in, his swordpoint everywhere. Kay gave ground, getting in a blow of his own here and there but still being forced back. His weapon could strike without causing serious injury; should Gwaine's sword strike him, though, he could be critically wounded.

The thing to do was to disarm his opponent, Kay realized. He acted on the thought instantly; lunging in, he slammed the end of his staff through Gwaine's guard and brought it across the knight's face, fracturing his nose, then across his upper arm, sending stabs of pain down to Gwaine's sword hand. He brought the staff down hard on Gwaine's forearm as it stretched out to land a backhanded slash across his ribs. The blow was knocked sideways, laying open the knuckles of Kay's leading hand.

After an instant of maneuvering, Kay brought the knight's sword down toward the floor. He stamped on Gwaine's sword blade, pinning it down, but was taken by surprise when, instead of trying to pull his weapon away, the knight let go of it and tackled Kay, slamming both of them back into the wall.

At this proximity, Kay's staff was useless. Hand to hand combat wasn't exactly his forte; Gwaine had a definite advantage now.

As the knight's fist snapped his head back, Kay pushed off from the wall, sending the pair of them reeling across the hall, gripping each other furiously. They crashed to the ground; Gwaine was on top, blood streaming from his nose. He managed to plant a knee on Kay's left arm, growling, "Don't ever talk about my father like you know anything about him!"

Before he could take advantage of his position, huge hands were hauling him upright. Kay leaped to his feet to continue the attack, but Terra was there, jumping in front of him and pushing him back. At the same time, another pair of hands caught him by the arms, immobilizing him.

Percival had been the one to seize Gwaine. He shook the smaller man, speaking to him angrily, but Kay wasn't listening. He stopped struggling, startled that things had gotten out of hand so quickly. The whole fight had taken less than fifteen seconds.

As the two opponents relaxed, the other knights let go of them. Percival steered Gwaine toward the door, handing him something to staunch the blood flowing from his nose. Mordred turned toward Kay and Terra, telling them apologetically, "He's not usually that touchy. He's just had too much to drink."

"Kay's not usually that touchy, either." Terra told him, shooting a fierce scowl at her brother. "I really don't know what's wrong with him."

Kay retrieved his quarterstaff from where he'd dropped it. "He was asking for it."

Mordred glanced over his shoulder toward the other knights, who were following Gwaine and Percival toward the courtyard, before telling Kay quietly, "You're the one that picked that fight, not Gwaine. You shouldn't have taken advantage of his being drunk like that – of course he's not himself. Gwaine normally would never act the way he just did. But he was drunk; what's your excuse?"

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A/N: I rewrote this part because Gwaine was really OOC in my original version, but I think he's still OOC in this segment. What do you guys think? If you think he was kind of OOC, any suggestions on how to improve that would be welcome. My other concern is that Kay comes off as kind of a jerk, even though he's really just a kind of hot-headed guy (literally and figuratively, since he's a redhead :) ). Let me know if he seems jerk-ish. And of course if he was, I'm open to suggestions on how to fix that, too.

Also, PLEASE REVIEW! Seriously, giving feedback, even if it's just a sentence, is the most rewarding thing you can do for a writer. Additionally, the reviews are what give me steam to keep working on this; I've had my whole Merlin project on a back burner for a few months, but someone discovered my S5:E13 alternate ending and left me several reviews, and that got me motivated to get back to work on it (thanks, Denise! :D). So seriously, please review - it might just be what makes me post the next part, and that's what you want, right? :)

It's summer now and school's out, so I'm really hoping I'll be able to power through some stuff and make up for lost time (I know I haven't updated in too long...).


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! I know you haven't heard from me in a pretty long time; so sorry about that. This episode is sort of in between ones I'm excited about, so it's harder to motivate myself to write it. But I'm going to try and power through it fast, so keep your eyes open.

Oh! Also! Important thing! I reworked part 1 of this episode, since Gwaine was way too OOC. Please go back and read it before you read this part; it's not too long. Let me know if it's any improvement on how it was before. :)

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The next morning Arthur and Guinevere were having breakfast together, so Merlin and Katera both attended them. Merlin enjoyed not having to worry about having things thrown at him, since Arthur wouldn't do anything of that sort while Gwen was present.

Even if she hadn't been there, though, Arthur was too preoccupied to be irritated with his manservant. That evening King Olaf, the ruler of one of the Five Kingdoms, would arrive for a two-week visit, along with a delegation that would include his daughter, Princess Vivian.

Since all of them but Terra understood the context of this, Gwen explained to her, "Vivian and Arthur were both put under a spell several years ago and enchanted to fall in love; one of the other kings was trying to start a war. We broke the enchantment for Arthur, but never for Vivian." She glanced at her husband. "Do you think it might have faded or worn off?"

"My messengers tell me she behaves normally, so that could be the case." Arthur nodded. "But it could also very well be that the spell is dormant, and seeing me again will awaken it."

That was what Merlin had told him earlier after spending most of the previous night researching the subject. He didn't want to say so himself, though, since Terra was unaware of his magic and he most definitely wanted it to stay that way. At the moment, he was crossing his fingers hoping Arthur or Gwen didn't slip up and say something wrong.

"If she's still under the enchantment, I'm concerned for you." Arthur smiled warmly into Gwen's eyes, prompting Merlin and Terra to exchange an _oh-please-you're-married-you-don't-need-to-flirt_ look. "She won't take kindly to my being married. And from what I recall of when I was under that spell, there's no telling what she might do."

"I'll be fine." The queen returned his smile.

Unheeding her reassurance, he continued, "I'd rather like to assign her a guard, but her father won't take kindly to that. But I want someone to be with her at all times to be sure she doesn't run off and do something that could put Gwen in danger or put her father on the defensive. My messengers tell me he's still ridiculously overprotective."

"Maybe Merlin could keep track of her?" Gwen suggested. "He's probably the best person for the job."

The wizard shifted from one foot to another; that was too close to a comment on his abilities for his comfort, given Terra's presence. Arthur was shaking his head, though. "I need somebody who can follow her everywhere without it being strange."

Gwen frowned. "A guard wouldn't be able to do that, anyway."

"Why not have Terra do it?" Merlin suggested. All three of the others' heads turned toward him, so he elaborated, addressing Terra, "Gwen could lend you out to Vivian as a maidservant for the duration of her stay."

Arthur immediately pointed out a flaw in the idea. "There are plenty of servants available, though. It will seem strange for the queen to give hers up when there are dozens of others that could serve Vivian without causing anyone inconvenience."

It was Guinevere who proposed a way to fix that particular issue. "I'll say she's the best servant I've had, and I naturally want nothing but the best for someone as important as Princess Vivian."

"Vivian will like that," Arthur agreed dryly.

"So will her father." Merlin commented. "And you can't go wrong with making Olaf happy, right?"

"Terra would be expected to be with Vivian every moment." The king thought aloud, clearly beginning to like the idea. He glanced at Gwen's maidservant. "Would you be alright with doing this, Katera?"

"It comes with the job, I suppose." She smiled gamely.

"You'd be working longer hours." He warned.

She shrugged. "As long as it's only for the two weeks."

"I'm sure we could arrange some sort of additional pay for going above and beyond your duties." Gwen shot a sidelong glance at her husband.

"That will ensure Vivian's under watch all day." Merlin moved the discussion along. "You'd probably want to post a guard on her overnight, though."

"That wouldn't be too far-fetched." Arthur agreed. "I'll post one for both her and King Olaf so it doesn't seem strange."

Gwen was thinking through the logistics of it all. "This is purely theoretical of course, but what if she tries to climb out a window to get around her guard?"

"We can give her a room with a sealed window." Merlin proposed. "Or a barred one, or something of that sort."

Arthur nodded agreement. After a moment, his expression said that something else had occurred to him. Merlin noticed his eyes catch Gwen's, then flicker from Terra to the door; _dismiss Katera_.

"Well, that's settled." His wife remarked. "You can have the rest of the day off till Olaf and Vivian arrive tonight, Terra. Merlin will clear up our breakfast; you can be dismissed."

Looking mildly surprised, her servant ducked a bow. That was a quirk of Terra's; she seemed to never have learned to curtsey, as most maidservants did. With a nod to Merlin, she headed for the door.

Waiting until he was sure she was out of earshot, Arthur turned toward Merlin. "Do you think she's going to still be under the enchantment?"

The wizard deliberated carefully before responding, "Some spells fade over time, but love spells are the most potent ones out there. I don't think it's likely to be gone; like I said earlier, it's probably just dormant thanks to prolonged separation from you."

"If that's the case, do you think you can cure her of it?" Arthur questioned.

Merlin grimaced. "The only cure I know of is true love's kiss, and she doesn't have a true love."

"This could still start a war." The king scowled. "You'll have to search for another cure."

"Do you think you being married might affect the spell?" Gwen asked. "Disrupt it, or something?"

Arthur looked to Merlin for an answer. His servant shook his head. "I could be wrong, but as far as I know, she'll just be wildly jealous. She certainly won't give up, though."

"Great." Arthur grunted.

"I'll get Gaius to help me look into possibilities for another cure." Merlin headed for the door.

The king cleared his throat loudly, pulling his dark-haired servant up short. "Aren't you forgetting something, Merlin?"

The wizard turned slowly, his guilty half-grin giving him away. "Am I?"

"You have a table to clear." Arthur informed him. "And since you'll be squirreled away with Gaius for the rest of the day, you're going to have to get my clothes for tonight ready now."

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A/N: How am I doing keeping people in character? I haven't watched the show in a while, so I feel like it's getting harder for me to keep them in character and write their dialogue right. Let me know how I'm doing. :)

I'll try to update soon. Please review, even if I've already posted the next part or even finished the episode! Reviews are what motivate me to keep working on it!


	3. Chapter 3

King Olaf and Princess Vivian arrived with their entourage just before sunset. Terra seemed inclined to stay off to the side, but since Merlin stayed at Arthur's flank Terra did likewise with Gwen.

Merlin stared fixedly at Vivian as she came into view. She was hardly any different than she had been nine years ago. Her eyes roamed the courtyard idly, her expression one of slight disinterest.

Then her glance lit on Arthur. For an instant her expression was unchanged; then a conflicted, confused scowl settled briefly across her features. Merlin felt his heart drop as that expression was almost replaced by a wide-eyed, radiant smile. She rose up in her saddle, calling excitedly, "Arthur!"

"Oh no," Merlin mumbled.

"My love!" At her shout, Arthur visibly cringed.

Thanks to his daughter's outburst, Olaf's face was stony as he dismounted and shook Arthur's hand. "King Arthur."

"King Olaf." Arthur managed a smile. "It's good to see you again."

"Yes." Olaf agreed blandly.

"Uh, this is my wife, Queen Guinevere." Arthur introduced Gwen uncomfortably.

"A pleasure to meet you." Olaf bowed as he took her hand, his expression still conveying anything but pleasure as Vivian's excitement continued audibly in the background.

"The pleasure is mine, sire." Gwen smiled winningly.

Olaf's expression darkened even more as Vivian appeared beside him and he addressed Arthur; "You remember my daughter Vivian?"

"Indeed I do." With an awkward grin, Arthur bowed to Vivian. "Milady, this is my wife Guinevere."

"Your wife?" For a moment a frown flashed across Vivian's face, but its place was taken immediately by the same ridiculous smile. "She's so beautiful, Arthur!"

The blond king darted a sidelong glance at Merlin as though hoping his servant would tell him how to react to this. Merlin had no more idea than Arthur did, though.

Gwen saved the situation by telling Vivian with a warm smile, "It's an honor to meet you. I can show you to your quarters now, if you like, so you can freshen up before the feast tonight."

"That would be lovely!" Vivian bubbled. Merlin wondered fleetingly whether the princess remembered Gwen being a servant last time she visited.

As Gwen and Terra started up the stairs, Vivian caught Arthur in a startling hug. "It's so good to see you again, my love! I've been so lonely without you!"

"Vivian." Her father growled.

She stepped back, still smiling, and winked at Arthur. "See you at the feast, my love."

Merlin wished she would stop calling him that. It was as if his being married made no difference in the least. At least she hadn't tried to kiss him in front of her father, though.

As the rest of the party started up the stairs, Merlin noticed that Olaf and the man who appeared to be his second-in-command were hanging back a few steps, speaking quietly. Turning his head away, Merlin muttered a few words of magic, magnifying his hearing and focusing it on them.

"I want her locked in her chambers." Olaf was saying. "She shouldn't come to the feast tonight."

"Yes, sire." The other man nodded.

"You're personally responsible for making sure she doesn't cause any mischief, Dorin." The king warned in a low voice. "I don't want a war with Camelot."

"Understood."

At least Olaf appeared to be in a good position on this. Maybe things would go smoothly after all.

"I'll keep an eye on the queen, too." Dorin added. "You never know, she might very well be jealous and try to eliminate the competition."

Olaf frowned for a moment, reason conflicting with protectiveness of his daughter. Then he agreed; "Good idea."

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A/N: So this part was shorter than I thought it would be, but I got in everything I needed, so here it is. :) Please review! Oh, and hey, Moonflower999, thanks for those reviews you left for some of the episode 2 chapters. I wouldn't have been motivated enough to post this chapter so soon if I hadn't gotten those reviews.


	4. Chapter 4

With Vivian safely confined to her chambers, Merlin and Gaius devoted their attentions to the search for a cure to the love spell. Merlin was running through one massive volume after another; he had a stack of books still to look at on the table beside him, and a smaller pile of books he'd already searched with no results on the floor by his chair.

A knock on the door startled him; with a flash of his eyes, he shoved the one stack to the floor and the other around the corner so that both were hidden behind the table. Gaius slammed the tome he was reading shut and dropped a couple of medicinal books atop it as he called, "Come in!"

It was Kay who appeared in the doorway. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Merlin shot a quick glance at the massive heap of books he had yet to read. "No, nothing at all. Come on in."

"What can we help you with, Kay?" Gaius smiled welcomingly.

"Actually, I was hoping you could take a look at this." He held out his hand palm-down, unwrapping the long piece of linen that had been bound around the hand.

Merlin grimaced at the sight of a deep, day-old slash across the redhead's knuckles. "That looks like a sword wound."

"It is," Kay told him dryly.

"How did you get that?" Gaius frowned.

"I got in a fight with some drunk knight last night."

"You got in a fight with a _knight_?" Merlin repeated. "How did you manage that?"

"Long story," Kay sighed, shaking his head. "Does it need treating?"

"It should be dressed properly." Gaius made his way to the shelves along the wall. "Did you wash it?"

"Yes. I wasn't going to bother you about it, but Terra wanted me to because she's going to be serving Lady Vivian so she's not going to be home much to keep an eye on me and make sure it doesn't get infected." He grinned ruefully.

"I see." Gaius returned to the table with a handful of assorted dressing materials.

Merlin, impatient to get back to his search, leaned on the edge of the table and watched Gaius work. It had only been a moment, though, before the door opened again. Percival ducked into the room, followed by Gwaine.

Gwaine's usual good-natured greeting froze on his lips as he recognized the physicians' patient. Kay's eye went hard and angry. Merlin, slow on the uptake, was still noting Gwaine's swollen, discolored nose and didn't make the connection until Kay said icily, "You."

"Oh." The wizard glanced back and forth between the two. "I should have known when you said _drunk knight_. How on Earth did you get Gwaine mad enough to pick a fight with you?"

"I didn't pick the fight." Gwaine informed him frostily. "Your friend did."

"Did you do that to his nose?" Merlin demanded of Kay.

"Yes, he did." Gwaine's voice was distorted thanks to his injury. "I'd like to know where he got a staff like that in the first place."

Merlin grimaced. "Uh . . . I gave it to him." Before the knight could respond, he turned toward Kay. "What were you thinking? Picking a fight – especially with a knight! I wouldn't have given you the staff if I'd known you'd be so irresponsible with it."

Kay glared. "Well, he beat me anyway, so – "

"You _broke_ his _nose_!" Merlin exclaimed.

"Let me take a look at that." Gaius, finishing with Kay's hand, crossed to Gwaine and began unceremoniously examining his nose. The knight flinched as the physician's fingers pressed the injured appendage.

"I'm not sure it's completely broken, but if not, it has a severe fracture." Gaius pronounced after a moment. "I can give you medicine for it, but the bone doesn't need setting."

Percival, in the meantime, made his way over to Kay and leaned against the table next to him, commenting in an undertone as if he didn't want Gwaine to hear, "I have to say, that was some impressive quarterstaffmanship."

Kay raised an eyebrow at him. "Most people don't know that term – they call it quarterstaffery."

"I was trained in the basics." Percival shrugged. "Haven't done it in years, though." He paused, as if hoping Kay would say something, then continued, "Would you be up for teaching me a bit?"

The redhead looked pleased in spite of himself. "Tell you what, let's make it a trade; I'll help you out with the quarterstaff if you'll teach me a bit of swordplay." As if to explain himself, he added, "My father taught me a little, but I'm not as good with it as your friend;" This with a slight nod toward Gwaine.

"I'm gonna go ahead and take that as a compliment," Gwaine said loudly. Kay looked up as if he was surprised the knight had overheard. Accepting the vial Gaius had taken from the shelf for him, he approached the other two. Ever the easy-going one, he ignored Kay's hard glare and said generously, "I'd like to get in on this trade business, if you're teaching Percival. I'm not going to lie; our quarterstaff – " He hesitated, making sure he got the word right " –_ manship_ is impressive."

It took a moment, but Merlin could tell Kay was too interested in the offer to pass it up in favor of continuing his icy disposition toward the knight. The stablehand nodded stiffly, breaking into a reluctant half-grin. "I guess."

A few minutes later, once the threesome had left – now chatting as amiably as old friends – Gaius rolled his eyes at Merlin. The young wizard smiled. "The worse the fight is, the faster they make friends."

"Always," The healer agreed. "Now, I believe you have some books to get back to?"

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A/N: First of all, a massive thanks to the people whose reviews motivated me to FINALLY get this part written and posted. Safffzz, this had been on a back burner for a while, but when I got your review it gave me enough steam to finish it, so kudos to you; I hope you'll keep reading. :) Turmanarmo, I got your review a month or two after I'd posted the last part, when I just didn't have any motivation to keep working on this... your review finally gave me a kickstart on this part. Cel140, I loooove it when people leave me long reviews, so yours was awesome. Yours too, Natekleh. Also, Moonflower999, if you've read this far, thanks for your comments. :)

To all the rest of you, please review! Even if I've already posted chapters after this one by the time you read it... I still want to hear from you! Every single review I get plays a part in helping me crank more of the story out.

Of course, I'm sorry it took so long to get this out. I'll do my best to finish the next one faster. Help me out by dropping a quick review. :D


	5. Chapter 5

After breakfast, Merlin relocated himself to a secluded alcove off one of the outer walkways – a spot nobody went unless they wanted to avoid everybody else – due to constant traffic through Gaius' room. He was browsing through a particularly colossal volume on enchantments when indistinct voices from around the corner startled him.

The wizard's curiosity was instantly piqued; who besides him was trying to steer clear of other people? He murmured a few words of magic, sharpening his hearing until he could make out the voices.

"I still don't understand, sir."

"You are so thick, Lorne!" Merlin identified the second speaker as Dorin, Olaf's second-in-command.

"Sorry, sir."

"I want to _start_ a _war_! Do I need to be any _clearer_?"

"No, lord."

"Good. Go get to work, then."

The sound of one pair of feet retreating hastily, followed by another less hurried pair, told Merlin the conversation was over; he had only caught the tail end of it. Heart thumping, he waited until he was sure they were gone, then raced back to Gaius' chambers to leave his book there before finding Arthur.

The king was in his room, looking disgruntled as he tried to choose an outfit formal enough for the circumstances. He glanced up as his manservant dashed breathlessly through the doors. "There you are, Merlin; where have you been?"

"Dorin wants to start a war!"

Taken off guard by the outburst, Arthur stared at him for a moment before saying, "Start over."

Merlin moved forward impatiently. "King Olaf's advisor, Dorin; he's trying to start a war between you and Olaf."

"Why?"

He deflated a bit. "I don't know."

Arthur frowned. "How is he planning to do it?"

"I don't know," The younger man repeated reluctantly.

"How did you find out about it?"

Merlin shifted from foot to foot. "He was talking to someone about it and I overheard him," he paused before adding unwillingly, "with magic."

His friend shook his head, exasperated. "Merlin, how can I go to Olaf and tell him that my servant magically overheard his most trusted man plotting against him, but can't say what he's planning to do or even why or how he's planning to do it?"

Merlin opened his mouth, then closed it again. The point was indisputable. "Maybe I should tell him myself."

"No." Arthur rolled his eyes. "That would probably be even worse."

"Well, we can't just let him get away with it, sire!" The wizard complained.

"No," The king agreed. "But we can't take it to Olaf until we have proof, otherwise we might very well be starting a war without Dorin even having to do anything. Keep an eye on him, alright? If he tries anything, make sure you know about it."

Merlin nodded, disappointed. "I will."

"In the meantime, you need to get me ready for the feast." Arthur changed the subject, glancing pointedly at the contents of his wardrobe which he had strewn across the bed in an attempt to decide which to wear.

"You're such a baby." Merlin grumbled, crossing the room to lend a hand.

"Call me that again and I'll have you in the stocks faster than you can say _Merlin is a pansy._" Arthur retorted.

The wizard grunted, suppressing a smile as he scanned the array of clothing. As Arthur turned away, satisfied that he had won their brief verbal sparring match, Merlin muttered, "Dollophead."

"What was that?"

"I said, how about the red?" He pointed to one of the jerkins laid out on the bed, adding convincingly, "It would go nicely with a darker overcoat and light-colored trousers."

Arthur scowled suspiciously. Merlin took advantage of the pause to back toward the door, saying, "I had really better go find Dorin and make sure he's not up to anything just now. I'll ask Gwen to come help you if I see her." He pulled the door quickly shut behind him before the king could speak up.

As he headed down the hall, Merlin decided he had better check that Vivian's chambers were still guarded before going off to find Dorin and his accomplice. The walk took a couple of minutes; he arrived in the hallway outside her chambers to find one of Olaf's soliders leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest.

"Uh . . . hullo." Merlin pulled up out of his hurried stride.

The guard squinted at him as if unsure where he recognized the wizard from. "You are?"

"Oh, I'm Merlin." He grinned crookedly. "Are you Lady Vivian's guard?"

The young man nodded, still looking none too pleased at the servant's presence. "Did someone send you for something?"

"Oh, no, I'm just . . ." Merlin shrugged awkwardly, still keeping on his stupid, endearing smile. "Making the rounds, you know. Are you the only guard for Vivian?"

"There were supposed to be two, but . . ." The soldier scowled like he was debating whether or not to say anything. "None of the others in the contingent take assignments to guard Lady Vivian seriously."

Merlin frowned. "Why do you?"

The other man shrugged stiffly, almost looking a bit abashed. "It's my job."

"Hm." The wizard didn't like the idea of having only one man keeping an eye on Vivian; what if he was in league with Dorin? Turning the problem over in his mind, he questioned, "How long have you been on duty?"

"I was on the second overnight shift after Lady Vivian settled into her room." The guard told him. "I was supposed to be relieved an hour and a half ago, but none of the others showed up."

Briefly distracted by the thought that a soldier of Camelot would never have been so irresponsible as to not even show up for guard duty, Merlin scowled, trying to catch back onto his previous train of thought. If this guard was willing to stay an extra shift for Vivian's safety, he was probably loyal to her father, so he wouldn't be working with Dorin.

With that in mind, he decided he had better focus on the immediate threat and find Dorin. With a nod to the soldier, he started back in the direction he'd come. Then, as an afterthought, he paused. "What's your name?"

The young man looked somewhat surprised at being asked. "I'm Rynar."

* * *

A/N: I know I always come down here and spend, like, ten minutes thanking people for reviewing, but I have a couple of HUGE thank-yous to deliver. Hey, Samantha... oh my gosh! It is the most amazing feeling to open your inbox and have a whole pile of reviews waiting for you! I know you haven't read this far yet but if you do, THANK YOU for dropping reviews for almost all the chapters for the earlier episode/s! Safffzz, thanks for your support 3 :) I don't know how to do punctuation after a smiley face... Moni Hasnone, your review was magical! I seriously was floating on air after I read that. Thanks to the others who reviewed as well (you know who you are)! :D

Aren't you guys proud of me? It's only been 3 weeks since my last update (usually it's a couple months at best)! Credit for that goes to my reviewers for giving me the motivation to finish! Love you guys!

As always, please review (even if I've posted chapters after this one by the time you read this). You will literally make my week. And it'll make the next chapter come faster, guaranteed. :)


	6. Chapter 6

After a short conversation with Rynar, which Merlin extracted himself from as quickly as possible, the wizard headed back up the passageway, anxious to find Dorin before he could do any harm. As he turned back into the main hallway, Merlin had to dodge a member of Olaf's entourage carrying Vivian's ample brunch on a covered platter.

Shaking his head at the amount of food he knew would be wasted, he continued along the hall, the voices of the guard and the servant fading behind him as they exchanged greetings.

"Good morning to you, Rynar, doing alright?"

"Fine, Lorne, you?"

Merlin pulled up short. _Lorne_ . . . wasn't that what Dorin had called his conspirator?

Realization hit him later than it should have and he wheeled around, racing back down the passage as he heard Vivian's door close; the servant had handed the meal over to Terra and was headed away along the passage in the other direction.

Rynar turned a startled expression toward Merlin as the wizard bolted around the corner, exclaiming urgently, "Open the door, I need to get in!"

"Nobody gets in," The guard shook his head, stepping between Merlin and the door.

"The food's poisoned!" Merlin pulled up in front of him. "Vivian's in danger!"

Rynar's suspicious eyes took the dark-haired young man in from head to toe. Impatiently, Merlin added, "It can't hurt to check – if I'm wrong, no harm done. But we have to stop her before she eats any of it!"

As if deciding he could handle anything someone of Merlin's smaller size tried to pull, Rynar rapped sharply on the door. "Milady?"

It took an anxious moment for Terra to open the door. Merlin immediately tried to push through, but Rynar held him back with an outstretched arm, explaining apologetically, "This servant claims milady's food has been poisoned."

Terra's gaze flickered to Merlin; she stepped back from the door abruptly, turning away from them. Her movement enabled the other two to see Vivian, seated at her table, lifting a leg of pheasant toward her lips.

Faster than thought, Merlin had ducked under Rynar's arm, bolted across the room and sent the whole platter flying off the table, its contents scattering across the rug, while his other hand caught Vivian's wrist and jerked it away as her teeth came within a hair of the meat.

Vivian's shocked exclamation was drowned by Rynar's furious voice; almost immediately he had Merlin by the arms and was wrenching him back, twisting his grip off Vivian's wrist. The leg of pheasant was forgotten long enough for Terra to move in and pull it delicately from the princess's hand.

Rynar had Merlin pinned roughly against the wall before the wizard could get out the words, "It's poisoned!"

"Lies," The guard hissed in his ear.

"It's poisoned!" He reiterated breathlessly.

"Prove it," Rynar growled, shoving him angrily.

"Terra, the dog!" Merlin gasped. "Give it to the dog."

The way Rynar had him pushed against the wall, Terra was outside his limited field of vision, but he could see the lapdog curled regally on the foot of the bed, its fur a shining puddle of gold around it. As Terra crossed the room and offered the pheasant leg to the terrier, Merlin tried to jostle the guard away and got slammed even harder into the wall for his efforts.

As soon as the dog had torn a bite off the leg, Merlin felt a prickle of doubt. What were the chances that the food really was poisoned? Assuming the servant who had brought it was the same one Dorin had been speaking to, why would he poison the princess? How would that fit into Dorin's plan to start a war?

Then the terrier gave a slight cough, as if it were trying to clear a hairball. Then another, more pronounced one. A tense pause – then it hacked violently, scrabbling at the bed and beginning to foam at the mouth. It lurched to the side and crashed off the bed to the floor; somehow finding its feet, it reeled madly toward Vivian.

The princess sprang up in alarm at the same instant that Rynar, finally relinquishing his grip on Merlin and allowing the wizard to scramble out of his reach, lunged across the room and warded her back from the terrier with an outspread arm. "Stay back, its bite might be contagious!"

Merlin doubted that the dog's bite would transmit the poison, but before he could say so it collapsed, twitching in its death throes. For a long moment it seemed to be choking on the foam that was welling up from its own lungs. Then, finally, it went still.

Another tense pause ensued; then Rynar's glare turned on Merlin. "How did you know the food was poisoned?"

The wizard didn't answer; he was trying to think, running facts through his head, looking for a connection. _Dorin wanted to start a war. Vivian was in love with Arthur. Dorin had tried to poison Vivian._

He pulled three more out of his head. _Arthur was married to Gwen. Gwen had personally put Terra in place as Vivian's servant. Terra was the one that would have been blamed if Vivian was poisoned._

Then it all fell into place and understanding hit Merlin – at the same moment that Rynar grabbed him by the shirt front. "I said, how did you know it was poisoned?"

"I – uh – " He hesitated, trying to decide the best course of action. He was certain Rynar was trustworthy, after what had just happened. "I'll explain."

Rynar relinquished his grip on the servant's shirt, but didn't relax. Merlin shifted uncomfortably before saying, "Somebody is trying to start a war." With a nod to Vivian, he continued, "They're trying to kill you and make it look like Queen Guinevere did it so your father will declare war on Camelot."

"I have to tell King Olaf," Rynar told him abruptly.

"No – you can't." Merlin stopped him as he made for the door. "Listen – the people behind the plot are close to Olaf. King Olaf," He corrected himself at Rynar's glare. "We can't trust any of the people in your party."

"This is ridiculous!" Rynar snapped.

"Nobody can know about this poisoning attempt!" Merlin pressed on. "Terra will be suspected. Queen Guinevere specifically lent Terra to Vivian; it will look like she planned this. That was the whole point!"

"Why should I trust you over my own countrymen?" The soldier growled.

Merlin appealed to Vivian. "Please, milady – do it for Arthur."

He had chosen those words carefully, and they were just as effective as he had hoped. Vivian glanced at Rynar with a regal nod. "You'll not tell anyone of this."

The soldier scowled in frustration, but bowed stiffly. "Yes, milady." Straightening up, he added, "But if we can't trust any of the others, what about the other guards?"

"I will ask my father to make you my personal bodyguard." Vivian smiled unconcernedly, as if that were the obvious thing to do. Rynar's uncertain expression betrayed his jumbled feelings on the matter.

That expression caught Merlin's eye, though; there was more to it than a guard annoyed that he would be stuck with the irritating princess. Beneath a heavy layer of skepticism, Rynar looked almost pleased, in the flustered way a puppy might be pleased if the object of its admiration had thrown it a bone.

A thought began to formulate in Merlin's head – but there would be time to work on that later. He had to alert Arthur of what he had discovered. "Listen, I have to go."

Rynar's eyebrows lifted. "What about – "

"I'm working on it, I promise." The wizard cut him off. "You make sure the princess is safe; I'll take care of the rest."

He headed for the door, then turned around as an afterthought. "I'd better take a piece of that meat with me." Once more addressing Vivian, he explained, "I'll have Gaius draw up an antidote for you to take with all your food, in case they try to poison you again."

Terra picked up the unfinished pheasant leg from the bed where the dog had left it and handed it over delicately. With a nod, Merlin ducked out and hurried down the hall, headed for Gaius' room.

On his way, he passed by a window which overlooked the knights' training grounds. The sight of Kay and Gwaine sparring brought him up short; he took a moment to watch. It looked like Gwaine was teaching the redhead to swordfight. Off to the side, two quarterstaffs leaned on the wall – maybe Kay was teaching the knight his trade, too.

Grinning despite himself, Merlin took off up the passageway once more. Once had had delivered the pheasant leg to Gaius and explained the situation, he went in search of Arthur.

The king was on his way to a meeting with Olaf and a few of his officials. Merlin fell into step beside him, glancing around to be sure they wouldn't be overheard before saying quickly, "Dorin is going to start a war by killing Vivian and making it look like Gwen did it."

"What?" Arthur demanded.

"Vivian's obsessed with you – he's going to make it look like Gwen killed her out of jealousy." Merlin thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "It's a pretty good strategy, actually."

"Do you have any proof?" The king questioned for the second time that day.

"Not really." Merlin shook his head reluctantly as they stopped outside the doors of the council room. "I'm working on it."

"Work fast," Arthur told him shortly before pushing the doors open and disappearing into the other room.

Merlin turned away and headed for the stairs, speaking aloud as if there were someone to hear him. "Yes, sire."

* * *

A/N: Guys, I'm sorry, it took me way too long to get this up. It's a bit longer than the last few, though, so that's my lame excuse.

To my reviewers - mersan123, Safffzz, dunedainKenobi, MadKatt, the last bookkeeper, and McAliceKatePotterGHShield - you guys are the best. Seriously, I would never have written this chapter if it wasn't for you all. I feel like a broken record because I say this every time, but I want to say it again anyway (and I'll probably say it many more times, too)... every one of your reviews gave me the bit of motivation I needed to keep working on it. I'll try and get the next part up ASAP for you guys. Oh, and a shout out to mersan123, because I'm pretty sure you've stuck with me longer than anybody else. Thanks a million. :)

And again, I know I always ask this, but how am I doing with keeping Merlin and the rest in character? In the show they speak more formally than I'm used to writing, which makes it tough for me. The other thing I feel like I'm missing from the show is the interaction between Merlin and the knights, especially Gwaine, and Arthur... I feel like I'm really short on that. Maybe it's just because I've been away from this project for so long. Thoughts?


	7. Chapter 7

This was a recipe for disaster.

Vivian was taking a walk in the courtyard. If Merlin had had his way, she would have stayed in her room and Rynar would not have left her side; under those circumstances, she was relatively safe. But although the princess's request that Rynar be her personal bodyguard had been granted, he couldn't be at her side all day, every day – he had to have some down time. Right now a different soldier was guarding Vivian, so Merlin had convinced Gwaine to help him keep an eye on her.

It had been Vivian's idea to go for a stroll – it seemed like she didn't understand that she was in constant danger, despite her close call with the poisoning attempt yesterday.

On top of all that, the only thing Vivian would talk about was Arthur; she was convinced that he would be looking for her and they were likely to meet while she was out on her walk. Merlin had warned the king to steer clear.

Since they didn't want Vivian's guard to catch on to their purpose, Merlin and Gwaine were keeping their distance. Merlin was only half listening as Gwaine commented on how unfortunate it was that Vivian was obsessed with Arthur.

"Really, if it weren't for that, she would be so . . . eligible." The knight grinned. "I mean, she's not bad-looking, and – "

Without warning, Vivian's guard collapsed with an arrow in his back. Gwaine dropped off midsentence, bounding across the courtyard and hauling Vivian toward the shelter of a column. Merlin was right on his heels, inconspicuously using a quick flash of magic to turn aside a second bolt. Then the three of them were behind the pillar, but it wasn't wide enough to cover all of them; another shaft barely missed Gwaine, and Merlin could tell he himself was exposed.

A fourth arrow hissed by – hastily, in the brief moment during which he knew the shooter was reloading, Merlin darted his head out to look in the direction the arrows had come. He spotted a figure in a high window and realized the figure was lifting a crossbow.

The wizard jerked back; an arrow split the air by his ear. "He's shooting from the window next to Gwen's room!"

"Draw him off!" Gwaine barked.

There was no time to argue; Merlin darted out into the open, then backpedaled hastily as the archer let loose a shaft at him and Gwaine bolted headlong for the stairs. Merlin managed to turn another two bolts off their courses with magic just enough to keep them from hitting the knight – then Gwaine had made it to the safety of the arches at the top of the steps and disappeared through the door.

Merlin pulled back into the shelter of the column, gripping Vivian's hand to keep her close. They would just have to wait until Gwaine got up to the room where the archer was hidden.

It was a couple of minutes before the knight's voice sounded from far above. "Merlin!"

The wizard leaned cautiously out from his hiding spot and checked to be sure it was Gwaine at the window. Then he stepped out from his hiding place, pulling Vivian hastily along. "We've got to get you back to your room."

She gaped at the fallen guard as they passed him. Merlin kept moving, glancing grimly at the body. "I wonder how they're going to explain that."

Gwaine made a stop on the way to meet them at Vivian's room; when he arrived, just moments after Merlin and the princess had reached her door, he had a ruffled-looking Rynar in tow.

Seeing Vivian, the soldier was instantly all concern. "He said they shot at you! Are you alright?"

Terra emerged from the room, where she had been folding laundry. Merlin nodded to her. "Keep her inside. Rynar, don't leave them without letting me or Gwaine know first."

Leaving Vivian in the hands of Terra and Rynar, he and Gwaine headed down the passageway. As soon as they were out of earshot Merlin demanded of the knight, "Who was it?"

"Don't know. He was gone by the time I got up there." The knight shot a last glance over his shoulder as they rounded the corner. "We need to let Arthur know that happened."

"Yeah," Merlin agreed. "He and Gwen are about to take lunch in his chambers; we can talk to them there."

A few minutes later the two of them reached Arthur's room just as the king and queen were sitting down at the table. Arthur looked up as they entered, saying languidly, "Merlin, you're late. What, are we supposed to serve ourselves lunch?"

"Heaven forbid," The manservant shot back.

"Sire." Gwaine got straight to business. "Someone made an attempt on Lady Vivian's life a moment ago."

Arthur's eyes shot to Merlin, demanding an explanation, which the wizard gave promptly. "She was walking in the courtyard and they shot at her from a window." He paused, then added significantly, "The window right next to Gwen's room."

He took in all their faces, realizing none of them understood the significance of that. "They're trying to frame Gwen! Gwaine and I weren't supposed to be there – there would have been no way to be sure which window the arrows came from if we hadn't seen it. They could easily have determined the direction and thought it was Gwen's window."

Arthur had no doubt told Gwen of Merlin's suspicions, but the wizard took a moment to explain them again anyway. "Dorin – Olaf's right-hand man – is trying to start a war by killing Vivian and making it look like you did it because she's in love with Arthur."

"Why does he want to start a war?" She questioned.

"If the king dies, Vivian isn't an eligible successor because she's so useless." Arthur observed. "He's probably the next one in line, politically speaking. A war would be a perfect cover to kill the king – it won't look suspicious if he dies in a battle."

Gwaine put the next question to them. "What can we do about it?"

"Well," Arthur glanced at Guinevere. "Since it's you Dorin is trying to frame, you should be in Olaf's presence as much as possible – he can't accuse you of an attempt on Vivian's life if you were with him when it happened."

"She could have a servant do it," Merlin pointed out. "Gwen, you specifically gave Vivian your own personal maidservant to be with her full-time as long as she's in Camelot; it would be easy to make it look like you had ulterior motives and Terra did it on your orders."

"So give her a different servant – pull Terra out," Gwaine proposed.

"I can't do that." Gwen shook her head. "Merlin's right – I made a point of loaning her out to Vivian for the duration of her stay. I can't change my mind now without a good excuse."

"I don't think Vivian would agree to give Terra up, anyway," Merlin commented. "She thinks they're sort of partners in this little adventure, them and Rynar, since I told them all about it together and it's a secret."

"This little adventure of getting murdered, you mean?" Arthur snorted.

"She thinks it's exciting."

"Alright, so Terra stays." Gwaine stated. "What about this Dorin fellow? Can we do anything about him?"

"We haven't any evidence except what I overheard." Merlin told him. "And Olaf won't take the word of a servant over the word of his most trusted man."

"Gwaine, go get the other knights." Arthur said abruptly. "I mean, Leon, Percival and Mordred."

"Yes sire. I'll be right back."

Once the doors had closed behind Gwaine, the king turned to Merlin. "Be careful on this, Merlin. If Olaf found out I was harboring a magician, that would probably be grounds enough for Dorin to talk him into starting a war."

Merlin grinned. "I know this is all new to you, but I've been keeping my magic secret from everyone who comes through this castle for the past ten years. I know how to go about it by now."

Gwen cleared her throat. "What he's trying to say, Merlin, is that he wants you to be careful because he's worried for your safety."

"I – no, that's not what I meant!" Arthur protested.

Gwen and Merlin shared a knowing smile. Arthur took on a tone of exasperation. "Guinevere!"

"Whatever you say, sire," She said sweetly.

Gwaine returned shortly with the other three knights in tow. Arthur got up from his chair as they gathered around. "Did Gwaine catch you all up on what's going on?"

"Yes, he did." Leon spoke up.

"Good." The king sat back against the edge of the table as he told them, "This is going to be a bit outside your normal duties. I need you to keep track of Dorin and his cadre of confidantes."

"Cadre of confidantes?" Merlin echoed, grinning. "Arthur thinks he can use big words! Isn't that adorable?"

Treating his manservant to his best severe look, Arthur continued, "There are more of them than there are of you, so you won't be able to watch all of them, but cover as many as possible."

"I'll ask Kay to help us," Gwaine suggested.

"Another pair of eyes would be good," Percival agreed.

"And he'll be glad to help, since his sister is involved," Mordred remarked.

"Alright," Arthur nodded.

"Vivian's bodyguard can be trusted," Merlin put in. "His name is Rynar. He's going to stay with her as much as possible, but one of us will have to keep an eye on her when he's not around because we don't know which of Olaf's other soldiers might be in league with Dorin."

"Fantastic," Percival commented.

Gwaine nodded wryly. "Oh, yes, just brilliant."

"Good." Arthur concluded. He glanced from one to another. "Well, are you going to stand around all day? Get out of here; let Guinevere and I eat our lunch in peace."

* * *

A/N: This one feels flat. IDK. That's just how I feel about it after having re-read it.

Anyway, forget that. I know it sounds bad but honestly I'm kind of just trying to crank this episode out to get to a more interesting one.

As always, to my reviewers, you were wonderful. This time around you all's feedback was especially motivating (thus the relative quickness of this update). A million thanks, Dee and Linorien! Safffz, your review was so encouraging. I'm not even sure why, it just was. Thanks for that. Mersan123, also, I really appreciated yours, you gave me a bit of your play-by-play thoughts and that was fantastic, so thanks. Grayswandir, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to write a substantial review... there's nothing more rewarding than getting some solid feedback. You also hit the nail on the head when you said I seemed like I was just trying to get through this one to get to something more interesting. :)

Anyway... I want to promise to update soon but my life is about to get even crazier and I have too many writing projects on the stove all at once. I feel like I tend to put this one on a back burner, but I genuinely want to work on it... so I'll just promise to do my best. Spam me with some reviews to get my wheels turning. :)


	8. Chapter 8

Merlin had delegated the search for a cure to Vivian's enchantment to Gaius, although both were aware that the chances that there was another cure were as good as nonexistent.

Over the next few days, while the knights kept an eye on Dorin and his closer friends among Olaf's contingent, Merlin was keeping a constant watch on Vivian whenever she left her room. One of the side effects of this was that he spent a lot of time around Rynar, and developed rather a liking for the soldier. Additionally, Rynar's steadfast devotion to Lady Vivian was a source of great interest to the wizard.

With four days left until the negotiations between Arthur and Olaf were complete, Merlin began to hope the plot against Vivian's life might not come to a head. When he expressed this to Rynar, though, the guard was less optimistic.

"I'll wager they're just waiting for the right moment," Rynar commented. "Anyone who plans something as big as this has to be serious about it."

"I don't think anything is likely to happen today, at any rate," Merlin shrugged. "Queen Guinevere will be attending the meeting between Arthur, Olaf and their advisors today in the council room to finish settling the new treaty. That's going to take all day. And since it's her that they want Olaf to believe assassinates Vivian – "

"They're unlikely to make an attempt when she's been in the same room as he has all day," Rynar nodded understandingly. "That's true. Although, I thought you were concerned that they might try to make it look as if Terra did it on the queen's orders."

"It's possible," Merlin agreed. "But after they tried to make it look like Vivian was shot from Gwen's – I mean, the queen's window, I think it may be that they're more interested in trying to frame her directly."

Rynar considered this for a moment, then folded him arms. "Well, good. Maybe she can take a walk today – she's been pestering me to let her for a while."

"Maybe." Merlin flashed him a grin, pushing away from the wall he had been leaning on. "Listen, I've got to go help King Arthur get dressed for that meeting. I'm required to attend, but I'll ask Gwaine or Mordred to help you keep watch over Vivian."

"Don't worry about it," Rynar shrugged. "I think you're right – they won't make an attempt today. And I'll be keeping guard either way."

"If you're sure," Merlin called over his shoulder just before he rounded the corner and took off at his lolloping jog toward Arthur's chambers.

Half an hour later, once Arthur had arrived at the meeting with his manservant in his wake and the company had been seated, Merlin, along with Olaf's dapper, strapping specimen of a personal attendant were serving wine to the eight people seated at the table – Arthur, Gwen, Leon, an advisor of Arthur's, Olaf, Dorin and two other members of Olaf's party.

Merlin tried to focus on the conversation around the table as he poured wine, but his attention kept returning to Olaf's servant as the husky, dashing fellow carried goblets of wine back and forth. Every move the man made had all the poise and skill of – of – well, he couldn't think of a comparison, but the point was, he was an unnaturally perfect manservant. Next to him, Merlin felt gawky, incompetent and even clumsier than usual.

Insecure? Him? Certainly not! Merlin huffed at himself. Just because Olaf's servant was a handsome hunk who seemed to know exactly what he was doing and how to do it, while Merlin was a scruffy urchin who, as usual, was out of place in this polished, formal meeting –

He jerked his hand back as he spilled a splash of wine onto the side table he was working at. He rolled his eyes; point proven.

Stupid perfect servant. If he thought he was so good, he should have been a knight or something. Sir Perfect. Merlin glared resentfully at the spill.

Having delivered the last wine glass, the other servant took up a position a few steps back from Olaf, his eyes set straight ahead, his hands hanging neatly in front of him, one clasped over the other. Self-consciously, Merlin moved to stand behind Arthur, imitating the posture of Olaf's perfect attendant.

A few minutes later, while Arthur, Olaf and the rest were debating the technicalities of a border patrol arrangement, Sir Perfect changed position, clasping his hands behind his back in front of him. After a moment, Merlin mirrored the movement. Probably looked better this way, if the other fellow was doing it.

Gwen had said very little for the past couple of minutes. She cleared her throat unexpectedly; Merlin glanced at her. Her eyes were a bit vacant and her complexion had gone very pale.

Arthur paused, noting his wife's condition. "Guinevere, are you alright?"

"I'm . . . actually not feeling well," She murmured. "I think it would be wise for me to retire."

"Certainly," The king shot a look to Merlin; taking the cue, the wizard stepped forward to pull Gwen's chair out as she rose.

She laid her hand on Arthur's shoulder. "I'll come back later if I feel better."

As the queen headed for the door, Merlin moved to follow her, but she waved him aside. "I'm alright, Merlin, but thank you. You had better stay with Arthur."

The door closed behind her a moment later. When Merlin turned his attention back toward the rest of the room, he caught Olaf's servant looking at him expectantly. Uncertainly, the wizard glanced around; there must be something he was supposed to be doing right now.

After a moment, Sir Perfect, with a barely perceptible sigh, glided around from his side of the table and removed the wine goblet from Gwen's now-vacant place at the table. Merlin watched him ruefully. Any self-respecting servant would probably have known to do that.

Something sprang unbidden to Merlin's mind; he turned abruptly toward the side table, where the other manservant had just put the cup down. As Sir Perfect headed back to his post behind Olaf, Merlin picked the goblet up and took a deep whiff of it, extremely aware of the startled and disapproving look with which the other servant fixed him.

In order to have something to compare the odor of the wine to, Merlin uncorked the wine bottle and held it up close to his nose, inhaling deeply. His years with Gaius came in handy now; his sense of smell, well trained to differentiate herbs and potions, picked up a distinct difference between the two scents. There was something in Gwen's wine.

* * *

A/N: I feel terrible. I always promise you guys I'll try sooo hard to get the next chapter out as quickly as possible, then let weeks and weeks go by before I actually finish it. In case you were keeping track (I was :P), it's been 70 days since I published the last part of this story, which, to simplify, is 10 weeks, which, to simplify more, is 2 and a half months. I promise I'm not deliberately stringing you guys along.

So, I do really want to work more on this project. I really want to finish my season 6... I have the whole season mapped out and I have some really good (I hope) episodes planned. It's just this episode that I've been stuck on for ages... the chapters just don't want to get written. It's like that one point of writing every story that is just boring and you can't motivate yourself to work on it, except in this case the whole thing has been that one part. Rrgh. I think if I can just get past this one I'll be able to pick up steam again. Just help me get motivated to get there, guys.

That brings me to the next thing I wanted to say - huge, huge thanks to smileylaugh and lilyblaney for your awesome reviews! Seriously, you two are basically responsible for this chapter getting written. Also to those who reviewed back when I first got the last chapter out (January/February :P). Mersan and Safffz - I always worry I'll lose reviewers because I take so long to update, and a lot of the time I do, but the two of you always come back no matter how long it's been. And thanks to my other reviewers - the last book keeper, LdyJulanna, and tabithabettypayne. And Tea Myths - I wish I had thought of bringing Gilli into one of my episodes, because he was a super cool character. But I've already got the season's plot worked out now and all the stories set. Maybe I could write a separate story with him, though. If only I had free time. :P

Otherwise... as always, I don't know if I did well keeping everyone, Merlin particularly, in character. In the canon series he's a comical character and I don't think writing humor is a strength of mine. Plus it's been a long time since I watched the show, so I feel like my grasp on the way they speak and the way Merlin behaves is slipping.

As always, please review! Even if I've published the next chapters, it's always encouraging to get reviews of stuff I wrote earlier on. And if I haven't published the next chapter yet, chances are I'm in a slump and having trouble working on it and your review will make it happen. :D


	9. Chapter 9

Worry stabbed acutely through Merlin. Sir Perfect's disapproving stare forgotten, he spun on his heel, the goblet in hand, and made for the door, hardly noticing the wine in the goblet slopping out and splashing the leg of his trousers.

Moments later he was sprinting into the physician's chambers. "Gaius!"

"No need to shout, Merlin, I'm not quite deaf yet," The old man grumbled with a brief glance up from the book he was poring over.

"What type of poison is in this?" The wizard demanded, holding out the cup urgently.

"Well, to be sure I would have to break out my chemistry set and try a few tests . . ." The healer began.

"Gaius!" Merlin exclaimed urgently. "Whatever this is, Gwen just drank it. I need to know now!"

That got the physician's full attention. He reached for the goblet and held it to his nose, taking a deep whiff. Then, tentatively, he dabbed a finger against wet inside of it and touched it to his tongue.

After a moment, during which Merlin all but danced with impatience, Gaius pronounced, "It's nothing too severe. Definitely not fatal. It probably won't even make her vomit. It's just meant to make her feel ill."

"Why?" Merlin scowled.

Gaius sat back, raising the infamous eyebrow at his apprentice. "Start at the beginning. Think it through."

Merlin frowned, trying to clear his thoughts. His mentor prompted, "It must have been Dorin, right?"

"Yes," The young man agreed – then, hit by sudden realization, clapped a hand to his head. "Obviously! With Gwen in Olaf's presence at the meeting, he couldn't frame her for an attempt on Vivian's life."

"So he removed her from the room," Gaius observed.

"Yes – which means – " Merlin wheeled around midsentence and raced for the door " – someone's going to try to kill Vivian any moment now!"

As the door slammed behind the young wizard, Gaius turned back to his book with a resigned shrug. "No need to thank me, my boy. Happy to help."

Moments later, Merlin rounded the corner outside Vivian's chambers, pulling up short when he nearly ran into a guard he didn't recognize, leaning against the wall by the princess's door – one of King Olaf's contingent. The two stared at each other for a moment, equally confused; then Merlin demanded, "Where's Rynar?"

"I relieved him a while ago. Who are you?"

"But – but – why?" Merlin stammered.

"Because I was ordered to," The guard responded shortly. "Why does it matter?"

Merlin's eyes flickered to the door, noting for the first time that it was slightly ajar. He moved hastily past the guard and pushed into the room, only to find it empty.

Spinning around, he demanded, "Where's Vivian?"

The guard scowled at him. "She wanted to go for a walk. What's it to you, boy?"

"A walk?" Merlin repeated incredulously. "You let her go for a walk? Alone?"

"She took her servant with her."

Without another word, Merlin took off running for the third time in minutes, sprinting down stairs and along corridors. As an afterthought, as he passed the room where Olaf's guards were quartered, he arrested his momentum and slammed through the door, shouting, "Rynar!"

The young soldier, still in his boots and with his swordbelt still attached, was sound asleep atop the blankets of a neatly-made bottom bunk, face buried in his pillow, one arm hanging to the ground. At the sound of his name, he lurched upright and squinted at Merlin through bloodshot eyes.

"They're going to try to kill her!" Merlin exclaimed, heedless of the two other guards at a table across the room.

With that he took off again. A moment later Rynar's heavy footfalls resounded down the hallway behind him; the soldier called after Merlin, "I thought she would be safe right now because the queen is in the negotiation room with King Olaf!"

"The queen's not in the negotiation room anymore," Merlin shouted back as he pounded down the front stairs, then paused briefly to think. Where would Vivian go for a walk?

"I have no idea which way she went," He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Terra is with her, right?" Rynar caught up and came to a halt beside the young wizard. "She's the one that knows the area; if Lady Vivian had insisted on going outside the castle walls, where would Terra have taken her?"

"Through the town."

"Let's go, then!" Rynar broke into a run; Merlin fell into step next to him, heart pounding.

It was a few minutes, stopping here and there to ask peddlers if they had seen Vivian, before Merlin caught a glimpse of Terra – for only half a second, as she whisked out of sight around a building.

An instant later he realized she had darted into hiding because three armed, hooded men – presumably some of Dorin's followers – were advancing down the street in her direction. She had probably pulled Vivian behind the building with her.

"There!" Merlin hissed at Rynar, picking up his pace.

Rynar was right with him, answering, "I saw."

The three men disappeared behind the building. Merlin heard Vivian's high-pitched scream and Terra's voice raised in anger. He and Rynar skidded around the corner a few seconds later.

Terra, blood running down the side of her face, was struggling with one of the guards against the wall of the building. Vivian was backing toward Merlin and Rynar as the other two men advanced toward her, crossbows raised.

Even as Merlin was taking in the scene, one of the guards was pulling his trigger.

Rynar had Vivian by the shoulders and was throwing his weight forward to spin her around as the shaft left the bow. The sickening thud of an arrow burying itself in flesh resonated in Merlin's ears.

Face stretched into a stricken mask of shock, Rynar tumbled to the ground, his grip on the uninjured Vivian pulling her down with him. The arrow protruding from his back snapped off as he fell in the dust.

Merlin bounded over the two of them toward the guards and slammed into the one who had just fired as the man dropped his bow and went for his sword. The blade was half out of its sheath when Merlin caught his arm, throwing his weight against him in an effort to knock him over.

Out the corner of his eye, the wizard saw the second man drawing his sword as he stood over Vivian. Before he could summon up a burst of magic, the man he was fighting head-butted him, catching him in a moment of distraction and sending him reeling backward. The other man's sword rose and began to fall.

Then the thud of an arrow making contact sounded again and the guard staggered, his sword clattering harmlessly to the ground. An arrow protruded from the ribs he had exposed by lifting his arm.

A few steps away, Terra lowered the crossbow she had just fired. Behind her, the man she had been struggling with was in a crumpled heap against the wall. It was his bow she had just saved Vivian with.

Merlin bounded off the wall as the remaining guard drew his sword. He caught the upraised arm and sent a shock of stabbing pain into the man with a quick, unnoticed flash of his eyes. Howling in agony, the man scrambled back, hardly noticing as Merlin caught the sword out of his hands.

It was a second before the soldier recovered from the pain and realized he was unarmed. Quick to assess his options, he spun around and bolted down the alley, disappearing a moment later.

Merlin glanced at Terra, noticing the blood on her hands. "Are you alright?"

She returned to the man she had left by the wall and pulled a short knife out of his stomach, looking a bit sick. "I'm fine. Good thing you showed up when you did, though."

"Looks like you could have handled it yourself," Merlin commented. "You killed two of them."

"Because I had the advantage of surprise." She wiped her knife uncomfortably on the man's jerkin and slid it back into place out of sight behind her belt. "He didn't know I had a knife, and he – " Nodding to the man she had shot " – didn't know I had taken the first one's crossbow."

Then her eyes lit on Vivian and Rynar and flew wide. Suddenly remembering that the soldier had been shot, Merlin whirled around and dropped to his knees beside the two of them, opening his mouth to demand of Vivian whether her loyal guard was still alive.

He cut himself short, though. Vivian had propped Rynar's upper body against herself so his weight wasn't on the shattered arrow in his back. His head was against her shoulder and he was struggling to speak as a tiny rivulet of blood carved its way down his face from the corner of his mouth.

Vivian was trying to shush him, insisting tearfully, "Save your strength!"

"It doesn't matter," He rasped. "It's too late for me."

"Don't say that!"

"Lady Vivian . . ." He forced the words out with a pained cough that flecked her face with blood. "Can I tell you a secret?"

She didn't answer, just stared in horror as he bled out his life in her lap. Taking that as permission to share his secret, he took a ragged breath, arching his back to move his face toward hers as he whispered hoarsely, "I think I'm in love with you."

There was a long pause broken only by the sound of the soldier's weak, agonized breathing.

Then, with a colossal effort, Rynar shifted his head upward and kissed Vivian. For one second, two seconds, they were frozen like that; then he fell back, gritting a snarl of pain through his teeth. Chest heaving with pain, he gasped, "I'm sorry, milady. But I had to – I'm dying anyway – "

Vivian leaned down and kissed him.

This kiss was a bit longer and slower than the other, but Rynar was in too much pain for it to last. There was blood on Vivian's lips as they separated, and her tears were flowing freely now.

Merlin interrupted the moment. "Alright, that was lovely, now I need to see that arrow wound."

As the young wizard pulled him out of Vivian's arms and rolled him onto his stomach, Rynar gritted, "Merlin! There's nothing you can do!"

Ignoring him, Merlin placed his hands around the broken stub protruding from the soldier's back. "This is going to hurt."

"It already does."

"Well – " Merlin left the word hanging; his eyes flashed gold as he exerted his magic to pull the arrow free. Rynar shouted in redoubled pain, but the five inches of the shaft that had been buried in his flesh came loose.

Blood gushed from the injury, spilling down Rynar's side and soaking through his shirt. Merlin pressed both hands over it, murmuring an incantation that nobody else could hear over the sound of Rynar roaring in agony.

Then, sucking in a breath, he sat back. "Why, you big baby! It's not even very deep!"

"Yes it is, Merlin!" The soldier lunged off the ground, snatching up the bloodied arrow that had come out of his back seconds ago. "Do you see how deep this went?"

The wizard allowed a moment for Rynar to realize that he was well enough to jump up and that the pain was severely diminished, then grinned mischievously. "Are you sure that whole show wasn't to earn a kiss from Vivian?"

Bewildered and astonished, Rynar bent an arm behind his back to feel the injury. Merlin had healed the deep part of it, but left a superficial wound so that it could be naturally explained.

Rynar brought his hand back around and held it up, staring at the blood on his fingers in confusion. "It doesn't . . . feel as bad as it did."

"Is he alright?" Vivian questioned, trying to scrub the tears off her face and only succeeding in smearing Rynar's blood across her face.

"He'll be fine," Merlin answered. "I think he just – "

He trailed off as Vivian pulled Rynar toward her and kissed him again. This kiss was much more prolonged and vehement than the previous two, and Merlin glanced away uncomfortably even as he allowed himself a grin of relief. Vivian's enchantment seemed to have been thoroughly broken.

* * *

A/N: I'm starting to sound like a broken record with how many times I've apologized for taking so long to update. This time it was almost 3 months... possibly a new low for me. Jeez. I'm sorry, guys. As always, I'll try to do better. It's summer break now, so I might actually be able to keep up with this for a couple of months.

Anyway... as always, so much gratitude to my reviewers. Safffzz, your review made me laugh because you thanked me for poisoning Gwen instead of making her pregnant. The funny thing is, if I had been updating more frequently instead of every few months like I have been doing, you'd probably remember that she's already pregnant... lol :) Thanks also to mersan123 as always, and to lilyblaney, Zeetybluesparrow and karameiwaku. And to Imtozizle for reading all the way from the beginning. :D Without all of you guys I would never have gotten this finished.

We're close to the end! Almost over the hill! I can do it, just one or two more chapters. :) I'll try to crank those out ASAP (within the week, I hope) and get the next one started. I want to set a goal to finish the whole series this summer, but realistically there's no way that's going to happen, so I'm aiming to finish episode 5 by the end of August. Help me get there, guys! :) K, I'm out.


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